Successors of Traditional Art in Dali

Successors of

Traditional Art in Dali

Bai Yan

Yunnan Ethnic Culture

Audio amp; Video Publishing House

February 2020

138.00 （CNY）

Brief introduction：

Successors of Traditional Art in Dali is an audio-visual publication recommended by Yunnan Ethnic Culture Audio amp; Visual Publishing House， which is funded by China National Publication Foundation. With a total of 13 episodes， in Chinese and English， this documentary on intangible cultural heritage records those who have inherited the intangible cultural heritage in 13 different fields in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture， Yunnan Province， China. After three years of planning， shooting and elaborate production， it has been officially published.

Bai Yan

As a research librarian， Bai Yan is now president and editor-in-chief of Yunnan Ethnic Culture Audio-Visual Publishing House. She has studied in the fields of film and television， ethnology， literature and archaeology， and audio-visual publishing. Over the years， she has been dedicated to fine-tuning the publication of Yunnan ethnic cultural audio-visual publications， focusing on the recording， preservation and inheritance of excellent ethnic culture by leading all the staff to explore the rich and unique Yunnan ethnic cultural resources.

“To sew Buzha， wormwood is necessary， for it can repel mosquitoes and ward off evil spirits.”

—Zhao Huaizhu， a provincial-level representative inheritor of Buzha of the Bai ethnic group

Jianchuan County is located on the Dali prefectural border. In ancient times， there were many venomous snakes and mosquitos. To protect themselves and pray for safety， the local people sewed Chinese herbal medicines such as musk and realgar into small pouches to carry around， which gradually evolved into Buzha craft， and these skills have since been passed down from generation to generation among local Bai women.

Buzha （cloth toys） of the Bai ethnic group， also known as “houzichuan”， is a traditional folk handicraft popular in Jianchuan County. It was originated from perfume pouches of central China. The Bai artists of Jianchuan learned from the culture of the Han and other ethnic groups， combining embroidery into Buzha. According to Annals of Jianchuan County， on Dragon Boat Festival， some children in Jianchuan have embroidered silky monkeys filled with mugwort， flower strings and other Buzha toys on their hands. Legend has it that these mascots can ward off disease and evils， and keep children healthy.

Jianchuan Buzha of the Bai ethnic group has both the charm of toy making and the beauty of embroidery， with various forms and styles. A whole set of Buzha toys is usually composed of 8 to 12 pieces， including forms of lion， tiger， monkey， silk ball， the Eight Diagrams， fish， children， and Buddha’s hand， etc. Each piece carries a different symbolic meaning， but they are all about blessing. Jianchuan Buzha， therefore， is an art form with unique charm， for “every pattern has its symbolic meaning， and every meaning is propitious”.

“As a psychic-like artisans， we must be devout！”

—Zhang Ruilong， a prefecture-level representative inheritor of Jiama

Jiama is a kind of traditional folk woodcut and printmaking art. As a carrier， Jiama paper has been widely used in folk praying， calamity averting， sacrifice offering and other folk activities for thousands of years. According to the “Paper Horse” section in Anthology of Petty Matters in the Qing Objects， Jiama was originally called paper horses， which was a handmade colored painting of Taoist deities. Because most of the figures in the paintings were armored on horseback， it was also called Jiama （literally means armored horses）. In the Song Dynasty， as woodblock printing became popular， Jiama developed into a multicolor overprint， which lasted for three dynasties from Yuan to Qing.

According to A Collection of Essays at Tianxianglou written by Yu Zhaolong， a Qing scholar， “It is a custom to draw images of deities on paper， paint them with red and yellow colors and burning them as an offering. This painting is called Jiama. The papers serve as vehicles for gods， hence the name ma （horse）.”

In the old animistic world view， people believed that spirits lurk behind everything around them， so they regarded Jiama as the “messengers” to connect the mortals with the immortals， hoping to communicate with the gods and get blessing and protection in the rituals of cremation and sacrifice.

Introduced from the central plains of China to Dali， Jiama of the Bai ethnic group has abundant derivatives due to the addition of native gods in the development and evolution of history and culture. In terms of usage， when priests use Jiama to sacrifice， they usually combine a variety of different papers and make them into a whole set， which consists of four to five pieces of Jiama paper at least， or a dozen at most. These Jiama papers serve their respective purposes and harmonize with each other.

“The mud plastered on the Buddha statue is mainly composed of two layers. The first one is straw mud， and the second one is fine-grained mud.”

—Su Longxiang， a prefecture-level representative inheritor of clay sculpture of the Bai ethnic group

Clay sculpture， one of the oldest types of art in human history. Su’s enthusiasm for clay sculpture comes from his family， which is rooted in Fengming Village， Fengyi Town， Dali. The craftsmanship of clay sculpture of his family started from his great-grandfather， and passed on to Su Longxiang， the fourth generation.

The Chunjiaohui Festival is one of the most popular Chinese New Year events in Fengyi Town. From the 13th of the first lunar month when people hold activities to greet the Marshal God （Shuai）， till the 17th when people break the fast and pay tribute to the gods， everyone in this town is immersed in joy， praying for good fortune and staying up all night to celebrate the Lantern Festival， which marks the official end of the Chinese New Year.

The Marshal God， the prominent figure for the festive parade， is made of paper. Legend has it that it represents Yin Jiao， a New Year tutelary god invested by Jiang Ziya， the leading character in The Investiture of the Gods. The local people respectfully call Yin Jiao “Marshal God” as he is in charge of good luck and misfortune. Over the years， as many artisans of paper sculpture in this town have passed away， it is incumbent upon Su to take up the job.

Compared with small clay sculptures， large Buddha statues are made differently. First of all， the artists choose an auspicious date， and then select a fine cypress to create the statue’s base. They carve the wooden armature based on the shape of the Buddha statue， and then add the yin-yang embedment. After placing cloth pouches filled with golden heart， silver gallbladder， jade， and precious ritual vessel into the yin embedment， the artists then cover the yang lid up， and then draw the features of the Buddha. After that， they fill cloth pouches with seven kinds of grains， seven kinds of teas， longan， litchi， and jujube as Buddha’s spleen and stomach. As for the intestines， they use red and green cloth. The large intestine is 2.8 chi （about 3 feet）， representing the Twenty-Eight Mansions， and the small intestine is 1.2 chi （about 1.3 feet）， representing 12 Gongcao （Time Keepers）. The “intestine” is filled with grains， which means golden harvests throughout the year.